->''"I'd give you all of Sydney Harbour, all that land and all that water, for that one sweet promenade."''-->--'''Paul Kelly''', "From Saint Kilda to King's Cross"[[note]]in reference to the St.Kilda promenade, Melbourne's most famous beach[[/note]]

Melbourne, the second largest city in UsefulNotes/{{Australia}}, is the capital of the state of Victoria, and according to the Economist Intelligence Unit, the most livable city in the world. Its major landmarks include Federation Square (known for being ugly in the sight of many), the Eureka Tower, Flinders Street Station, and the MCG[[note]]Melbourne Cricket Ground[[/note]].

The city of Greater Melbourne holds 4.2 million residents; the area of the city stretching from Weribee in the west, to Gembrook in the east, and Tullamarine in the north. It covers over half the coast line of Port Phillip Bay.

Historically, Melbourne was founded relatively late for an Australian state capital (1835), by a man named [[AwesomeMcCoolname John Batman]], who wished to call it Batmania. It would soon overtake all the other cities in Australia after the gold rush of the 1850s, bringing great wealth and a swift population increase to the city. Between 1880 and 1900, Melbourne was not merely the largest city in Australia, but in the entire Southern Hemisphere. It was also, at that time, the second largest city in the TheBritishEmpire, topped only by {{London}} itself. Shortly after Federation, it was overtaken by Sydney, which has remained the largest city (and the possessor of vastly more iconic landmarks) ever since.

It bills itself as the cultural capital of Australia, mainly for being the birthplace of Australian Film and Television, as well as having a diverse multicultural population, notably having the third largest Greek speaking population of any city. Including in UsefulNotes/{{Greece}}. It is also the first Australia city to get many plays and has a thriving music and comedy culture.

Melbourne is also the traditional home of Australian sport, having hosted the Olympics in 1956, being the birthplace and undisputed home of of AustralianRulesFootball, and home the largest capacity cricket stadium in the world, the MCG[[note]]100,000 people[[/note]], although it plays host Australian Rules matches most of the time. As a result, sport dominates the Melbourne way of life. Go on, try to find a train with no Aussie Rules supporters in the winter.

A resident of Melbourne is called a Melbournian (also spelt Melburnian) or Melbournite[[note]]This last one is almost never used in Melbourne itself[[/note]]. Melbourne tends to have a rivalry with UsefulNotes/{{Sydney}} and Adelaide in particular; the rivalry with Sydney over which city is better, and with Adelaide over who has the better football teams.

Melbourne also has the largest tram network in the world. Because of this, any shot of Melbourne in Australian media must have a tram in it. No exceptions. Similarly, Melbourne is often presented as cold and wet most of the time, due to it's higher-than-average rainfall (compared with the rest of Australia). The weather is also highly variable in general and is known for completely changing in a very short period of time (from sun to rain and back again in the time it takes [[HostileWeather to walk to the shops, for example]]), leading to the phrase "If you don't like the weather in Melbourne, just wait 5 minutes." Due to this, most conversations had in Melbourne will include some form of [[TalkAboutTheWeather talking about the weather]].----!!Australian shows filmed in Melbourne include:* ''Series/AdamHillsInGordonStreetTonight''* ''Series/BlueHeelers'' [[note]]Actually set 300 kilometers north west near Swan Hill, the shooting was done in Melbourne and certain scenes would take place there.[[/note]]* ''{{Frontline}}''* ''Homicide''* ''Series/KathAndKim''* ''Series/MissFishersMurderMysteries''* ''Series/{{Neighbours}}''* ''Series/{{Offspring}}''* ''{{Satisfaction}}''* ''Series/SeaChange'' (set in Pearl Bay, but with frequent visits to Melbourne, and the opening credits of every episode show the journey from Melbourne to Pearl Bay)* ''SmallTimeGangster''* ''SpicksAndSpecks''* ''Series/ThankGodYoureHere''* ''Series/{{Underbelly}}''* ''Series/{{Utopia2014}}''